By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
Suspended SAPS Deputy Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has conceded that he took control of all the crucial Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) dockets including those on the court roll and allowed them to gather dust in his office for a period of three months.
Sibiya acknowledged that no investigations were conducted on these critical cases during the period.
He asserted that his actions were aligned with directives from Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and SAPS Commissioner Fannie Masemola.
When Commissioner Adv. Sandile Khumalo asked Sibiya if he had implemented his own plan rather than the official one, Sibiya could only respond with a grudging admission: “I will agree.”
He further conceded that dockets sitting at head office for months without investigation amounts to interference with the administration of justice.
The commission has also presented documents showing that the PKTT mandate was extended in April of 2024.
The commission revealed that the expanded mandate – which took effect on the 1 April and included investigations into the killings of traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal — was recommended and financially approved by Sibiya.
The dockets which were officially signed off by senior officials within SAPS on 16 April, were audited a year later, after being transferred to the organisation’s head office in Pretoria.
Shortly after the audit, a letter surface reflecting an immediate disbandment of the task team.
However, Sibiya disagreed with the commission’s line of questioning, arguing that the team had been dealing with political killing cases since 2018 and therefore had sufficient time to investigate them.
Sibiya told the commission that Masemola, had sent him an email outlining operational steps to be taken during the disbandment of the PKTT. He said Masemola instructed him to communicate the message to relevant SAPS members.
Previous testimony before the commission indicated that Sibiya signed off on the task team’s de-establishment in January 2025 — a move the commission believes required careful scrutiny.
Sibiya also denied directing that the PKTT dockets be moved from KwaZulu Natal (KZN) to Gauteng. His name had featured prominently in earlier testimony as the driving force behind the controversial transfer.
He told the commission he only became aware of the transfer of 121 dockets to Gauteng days after they had arrived at the SAPS head office in Pretoria.
Sibiya raised concerns about procedural irregularities in how the dockets were moved, suggesting the handover should have been conducted formally between senior officials in KZN.
Although he acknowledged that 121 dockets remained at the Pretoria head office for three months without progress, Sibiya argued that the files had allegedly been inactive for years in the provinces where they originated.